One step forward, two steps back

March 30, 2008

I’m writing this with Maddie sprawled in my lap. She’s in that state of what I like to call “suspended animation.” She’s breathing slow and steady, as if she were asleep, but her eyes are only half closed and she is talking quietly to herself. It cracks me up. Yesterday her nurses decided to get [...]

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The Hospital at Night

March 30, 2008

When the hectic hospital day gives way to night, most normal people succumb to the fatigue they’ve been fighting off for hours. I have that fatigue, but I find it almost impossible to fall asleep. When I was in the hospital on bed rest only five months ago, I would turn up the monitor on [...]

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Maddie’s Hospital Life

March 28, 2008

The hospital that Maddie is in is undergoing a huge renovation. New buildings are being built, old buildings are being remodeled, etc. If you don’t know where you’re going you will definitely get lost. For example, the new building has finally been attached to the old one, but if you’re on the fifth floor of [...]

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Nurse Speak!

March 28, 2008

Maddie’s eight million breathing treatments seem to be working. When her Pediatrician listened to her lungs via stethoscope this morning, she said, “I hear good air moving around in there.” Her nurse listened an hour later and exclaimed, “her air exchange sounds good!” Um, okay! I like the use of the word “good,” even if [...]

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Pediatric Pulmonologist Pleasantly Preaches Patience

March 27, 2008

Maddie’s Pediatrician consulted with a Pulmonologist, and they plotted out a new breathing treatment schedule that will hopefully improve her lung function. The Pulmonologist looked at Maddie’s chest x-ray and asked my favorite question: “Has she been tested for Cystic Fibrosis?” When she was in the NICU, she was tested a couple times for CF. [...]

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Status quo in the pediatric unit

March 26, 2008

No real changes for Maddie since yesterday. Her Pediatrician was disappointed that she hasn’t made any progress on her oxygen; in fact, she’s gotten worse. She’s now getting 3/4 of a liter per minute with 28% oxygen. So, chest x-rays were ordered and medications were adjusted. She is now getting a third breathing treatment, of [...]

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